When North Korea launched a rocket earlier this month in a failed attempt to supposedly put a satellite into orbit, U.S. President Barack Obama was quick to condemn the latest provocation and then canceled a deal to resume nutritional assistance.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, offered a blistering statement of his own. But his statement was not entirely directed at the new leader in Pyongyang. It was also directed at the U.S. commander in chief.

"Instead of approaching Pyongyang from a position of strength, President Obama sought to appease the regime with a food-aid deal that proved to be as naive as it was short-lived," Romney said in a written statement. "At the same time, he has cut critical U.S. missile defense programs and continues to underfund them," he added, digging at another area of Obama foreign policy.

As the Republican candidate transitions from the long primary slog into the general election battle, his effort to cut down Obama on foreign policy and national security will sharpen. Naivety, appeasement, apologist and a menu of other unflattering descriptions are likely to be emanating from Romney's attack machine trying to cut down the president's perceived advantage on foreign policy. The president and his campaign team will be doing their best to ensure that advantage is maintained.

Romney's positioning in this particular battle arena is not new.

"Romney is going to do what presidential candidates, Democrat and Republican, have done for years when going up against an incumbent, and that's to run to the right" of the incumbent, said James Lindsay with the Council on Foreign Relations.

North Korea is not the only global hot spot where Romney has taken on the president's record in foreign policy and national security. Iran, China, Russia and the war in Afghanistan are among the areas that have been targeted as ripe for criticizing Obama's stewardship.

When an open-mic caught Obama last month telling the Russian president that he would have more flexibility to deal with missile defense after the election, Romney smelled blood in the water.

"These are very unfortunate developments," Romney said the same day in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Russia is "without question our number one geopolitical foe, they fight every cause for the world's worst actors, the idea that he has some more flexibility in mind for Russia is very, very troubling indeed," he said.

In what is likely to be a continuing theme throughout the general election, the Obama campaign was quick to put out statements from foreign policy surrogates painting Romney as a foreign policy novice unprepared to take the reins in a time of war.

"Does Mitt Romney think Russia is a bigger threat to the U.S. today than a nuclear armed-Iran or the terrorists of al Qaeda?" asked Colin Kahl, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East. "This is yet another example of Mitt Romney's willingness to say anything to get elected, no matter how reckless it may be."

In a speech earlier this year to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, Romney excoriated the administration's "policy of engagement with Iran," but erroneously asserted the president had opposed sanctions against Iran at that point. Supporters of the administration were quick to point out that the most crippling set of sanctions against Iran, since legislation was passed in the late 1990s, has occurred under Obama's watch.

When it comes to China, Romney has been critical of the administration's approach, saying he would penalize the country for its currency policy. He has also accused the administration of gutting the defense budget and of abandoning Israel, a dependable ally in an unsettled part of the world.

And from the beginning of his candidacy, Romney has criticized Obama's plan to drawdown the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan. Such decisions were driven by politics and failed to heed the advice of senior military officials, Romney has said. Romney says the scheduled pullout of troops is premature and could jeopardize any gains that have been made. But Romney himself has said troops need to come out as soon as possible, as judged the commanders on the ground.

Most polls on the subject show even the president's policy of a phased withdrawal by 2014 from Afghanistan to be to the right of the American public, with a majority calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. His handling of counterterrorism, highlighted by the killing of Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan compound, has handed the president some high-profile foreign policy triumphs.

Romney's campaign has added a list of foreign policy heavyweights from past Republican administrations who served in positions at the White House, State Department, Pentagon and the intelligence community. In an open letter to Obama, the team said Obama's inadvertent comments to the Russian president raised "questions about whether a new period of even greater weakness and inconstancy would lie ahead if you are re-elected."

The Obama campaign has in turn branded Romney an untested leader unsure of his standing on issues beyond the waters' edge.

"Gov. Romney has been all over the map on the key foreign policy challenges facing our nation today, offering a lot of chest thumping and empty rhetoric with no concrete plans to enhance our security or strengthen our alliances," Ben LaBolt, Obama's campaign spokesman, said in a statement last month.

So far, the power of incumbency seems to be playing to Obama's benefit. In a CNN/Opinion Research poll of 1,015 adult Americans conducted earlier this month, 52% said they saw Obama as being the candidate better able to handle the duties of commander-in-chief. Some 36% of those surveyed sided with Romney. The poll had a sampling error plus or minus 3 percentage points.

As the calendar draws closer to November, analysts who follow the race say Romney needs to remain cognizant of the risk of appearing too tough in his foreign policy rhetoric that presents an opening for the Obama campaign to paint him as reckless. At the same time, he can't appear to deliberately tone things down so much thereby inviting charges of changing his positions for political expediency.

With the economy and other domestic issues largely drowning out the discussion of foreign policy so far, it's unlikely to be a major discussion point in the campaigns, absent an unforeseen event, until later this year when the candidates debate each other. And that will be where the true test for Romney will likely emerge.

"It's easy to say Mr. President, I can do better on Iran, on China, on North Korea," says Lindsay with the Council on Foreign Relations. "What we have yet to see is whether or not Romney can generate in the answer to the obvious counterquestion from Barack Obama: 'OK, what would you do, and why should we believe it would work?' "

soundoff(757 Responses)

Syd

Under the GOP, we went from everyone supporting us to most being annoyed with us to many outright hating us (again or that hadn't before). Hard-talking "peace through strength" did work with the Soviets, I'll give 'em that. But since then they've got nothing (which is why they mostly run on paranoia and hypocrisy about guns, abortion and money). Bush did get Hussein, but Obama got Gaddafi and Bin Laden. And we're slowly getting back to where only brutal dictators and religious nuts hate us. Got to fix what's broken before you can make improvements.

Funny I thought it was a Pakistani doctor in Abbatobad that got us Bin Laden. Obama had the fortitude to launch a spectacular raid against a very powerful then ally. Obama made the right calls, Go get Bin Laden and do not tell the Pakistani's that we are doing it within eye sight of their prestigious military academy.

April 23, 2012 at 1:10 pm |

charles

What Hilary Clinton And Barack Obama acheived in three years cannot be compared to what Condeelesa Rice and George Bush Acheived in 8 years. Mitt Romney please learn your facts. Trying to appease the Dildo Heads that say they are conservatives make you sound ignorant!!!!

now wait a minute mitt, how can you argue foreign policy when the president has NO foreign policy? or domestic policy, beyond handouts...what a failure... so much for that hope and change thing.
OBAMANOS!!!

another thing you Republican are two faced. You talk about the government being to big When Nixon created the EPA and the FDA. Bush create prescription plan and homeland security. I wonder what these socialist was thinking. WAIT FOR IT. Omg it was to help the American people. But Obama can't do it. You Republicans are so Superior you are the only ones that do right, you are the only ones can run a country. The financial collapse happened under your watch. Do ya think that they fixed that yet? not a chance. Because you spend all your day attacking , even if it means making crap up. You accuse Obama not doing anything, neither to do you guys, unless it is for the rich guys. Shame that we have to pay these company's tax payer subsidy's so that we can have a job. I can't wait until Romney gets in. He is a rich guy looking out for his own kind. He is just another rich boy, that will not be running our country. That leads to government corruption but that is OK, they don't make enough in a pay check from a tax payer

go ahead and call that sawed off midget from iran and the poster child for retards in n. korea. they won't return your call either libtard!!! pray, do tell, what has he donw to aid the opposition of asaad in syria? NOTHING!!!
OBAMANOS!!!

and you are a friggin idiot aren't you...keep up the good work...we all know you have empty headed statements...and just like all republicans...you got nothing to offer !

April 23, 2012 at 1:11 pm |

edpeters101

If there is one thing you would think Mitt would be good at, it would be "foreign", let's face it, everything to Mitt is 'foreign'. But once again he can't even get that right! Maybe he should check with his wife fir that policy also???

No president can escape critique, ours gets the majority of support here on CNN. However, on MSNBC, were the Wall Streeters lurk and fume, virtually all the posts are nasty in a cheap way. Some of us supporters of our president need to post over there to counter their groundless attacks. They have this thing about "King Obama" and their peculiar interpretation of the Constitution, and believe it or not, "balance of powers," as if our "weak" president is too powerful.

foreign policy, hahahah mitt attacks the president, hahaha this liar romnney lies so much and everyday sometimes he himself cannot keeps up with hies lies. these romnneys seems to be having problems speaking the truth, liars, liars romnneys on fire. i wonder where was mitt when boy george bush was in the white house handling foreign policy? mitt you seems to have lies written all over your family.

Romney's deciding to ignore (or perhaps he truly didn't know) of the stringent sanctions leveled against Iran by this President, again shows how out of touch he is. His comment about the lack of sanctions is almost as dense as Herman Cain forgetting which Middle Eastern leader ran which Middle Eastern country. We'll just have to face it, instead of running on the merits (which sadly don't exist), GOP candidates will say anything, and they hope we are as stupid as they are. Why doesn't Romney fact check before he speaks. Someone needs to tell Mitt to use a teleprompter, as it seems those who need it most have the nerve to rail against its use!

To those liberals labeling Romney a Populist, a racist, and other naive names, take a good look at the legacy Obama is leaving your kids and this nation.

1 Obama – the only president NEVER to pass a budget as required by the Constitution and during the most difficult economic times.
2 – Wasting three years when Obama controlled all three branches of government, using the time by passing a health care law that will not produce the savings he promised but will cost us $500 billion + and may be overturned by the Supreme Court
3 – Unemployment over 8% - the longest period of any sitting President – and the highest sustained unemployment since the Great Depression
4 – Obama added more debt and did more deficit spending then any President in history – and lost our credit rating in the process – and NEVER proferred any plans to cut spending to reduce our deficit budgets or reduce the debt
5 – Despite repeated campaign promises, no immigration reform even though he could have passed ANYTHING when the Dems controlled EVERYTHING
6 – No policies for Iran or North Korea or Palestine or Syria
7 – A continuing of the failed Afghan War with no courage to just leave given that our mission is now done with Bin laden killed and Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan (the Taliban were never our targets)
8 – No real tax reform – just a smoke and mirrors Populist Buffet rule approach which, while popular, does NOTHING constructive.
9 – No energy policy and less drilling on Federal Land than under Bush ( all the new ventures coming in the private sector) – offshore drilling greatly curtailed; Keystone delayed in regulations and oversight for 4 years; no new ideas.
10 – Almost a billion in TARP spending and unemployment still above 8%
11 – Despite many promises to the contrary – NO transparency in governning and despite campaign promises, the most polarizing and partisan administration in the history of the US
12 – A campaign strategy involving class warfare, religious warfare, economic warfare, and race warfare
13 – A decrease in the stature of the US worldwide
14 – Untrustworthy in the eyes of many ( telling Russia he will have more flexibility on missle defense policies after his last election)
15 – afraid to tackle medicare reform despite campaign promises to the contrary
16 – afraid to tackle sociali security reform despite campaign promises to the contrary

We need courage, honesty, and resolution in the Oval Office, and today we do not have any of it

1. Just because you say something enough times doesn't make it true. Obama was born in Hawaii. He wasn't secretly born in Kenya, and the Obama's weren't stelthy enough to sneek in a fake birth cert into the vital statistics offices in Haswaii, nor were they sneeky enough to place a birth notice in the local paper circa 1961.

2. Nice straw man argument for the "taking away your guns". Obama has never uttered a word about proposing legislation that would make it harder to purchase guns. He's got a Republican congress, how's he supposed to take away anyone's guns? Not even demo's run on "taking away guns." Again, saying something, or blathering nonsense, even if you say it enough times, doesn't make it true!

April 23, 2012 at 12:41 pm |

Larry L

One has to wonder if these comments are a joke... I'd like to believe nobody is really stupid enough to be a "birther" because they believe any of that nonsense, but after reading your other comments I could be wrong... The NRA bit is what I find most amusing. As a hunter, a person with over 50 firearms, and a man with a 34-year military career I do care and know about gun ownership. President Obama has signed one action to ALLOW guns to be carried on certain National Parks and Wilderness Areas – nothing else. He's not after your guns. You, the NRA and Mr. Crappy-pants Ted Nugent are delusional.

He received the same birth certificate as everybody else in Hawaii at that time – certified by Linda Lingle, the former Governor of Hawaii. Ask John McCain. The birth announcement was placed in libraries all of the world as they recorded the Honolulu newspaper's daily publication. Do you think somebody went out and recovered every copy of the Honolulu paper in every file on earth so they could change the announcement? Duh! He attended a Christian church for over 20 years and the right-wing hammered him in the press for the views of the pastor. How can you "good Christians" have it both ways? A secret Muslim? WTF do you racists have for brains – you all seem to come from the same hateful, racist, ignorant pile of right-wing $#!+?

April 23, 2012 at 1:17 pm |

Hugh Jass

Well, maybe every one of us grownups is wrong and Obama IS a Muslim, or maybe you are one of those guys who ain't too bright.

A nicely writter polemic, my friend. And perhaps you could write one just as well for the other side. If, on balance, the GOP thought the electorate could be swayed with polemics, they would have provided a viable option.

Your spin is worthy of Fox News. As I'm sure you actually know, President Obama inherited this economy, with 8.5 million jobs lost and two wars to fight. Economists were worried about the unthinkable, a spiraling depression and total collapse of our economy. President Bush had already issued the bailout to the banks, and the mortgage crisis was in full swing. Healthcare costs were killing American families and the big three auto manufacturers were headed toward the end. Fat-cats had already sent jobs and money offshore.

That period of time when President Obama had "total control" of "all three branches of government" is hard to identify. The right-wing Supreme Court is nothing more than a tool of the Republican Party and has been since the Bush years. He only had a filibuster-proof Senate for a few months untli Senator Brown's election. After that point the Republcians filibustered about 95 times to block every initiative – even the things they approved in committee. The original "Obamacare" wasctaken from the Republican model! Mitch McConnell was working on his #1 goal and Republicans obstructed every attempt to create change!

The delay by the House to approve the debt increase caused the S&P to lower our bond rating – as the Tea Party members played "chicken" with the lives of the American people.

Conservatives are highly critical of the steps taken to avert disaster and get our economy going again – which it has done. The right-wing now says we should have allowed the "free market" to adjust. What free market? We've never had a "free market" and with a government to run neither has any other nation. Why would this mythical "free market" return us to prosperity? The wealthy had great tax rates beforfe and after the recession. Where are the job these "job creators" created?

Will you ever accept responsibility for the Bush debacle? What would YOU have done?

I cannot agree with LuisB. Your "facts" are a little one sided. You did not mention the housing bubble bursting. That was caused by the Dem controlled Banking Committee and started the economic problems we have. It did happen during the Bush administration but to ignore the fact that there was a Dem controlled Congress pushing the buttons would be wrong. BO didnt inherit the economy as you say. He wasnt an outsider before getting to the WH. He was in the Senate and helped to create the problems we have. Again, why dont you hold the Dems accountable? The National Credit rating downgrade came because there was no plan to pay down the debt. Once again Dem apologists try to find another boogie man to blame. Anything but hold the Dems accountable. You talk as though the BO policies would be good for the economy IF they were passed. There is no proof of that. I for one am happy the GOP blocked most of the BO policies. Every one included a tax increase, expanding the government and more regulations. If you want to see the ending of that story just look at Europe. There are several examples.

April 23, 2012 at 2:49 pm |

LuisB

Sure, let Romney take over this mess of a country and see how much better your candidate can perform. In spite of all efforts and the fact that country is on an 'upswing', it is NEVER enough, so there, take it over and CHOKE with it. ENJOY opening the door to special interests, continuing loopholes for multimillionaires and Wall Street, and taking away medical insurance from 180 million people that now enjoy access to it thanks to Obamacare. Stuff it all down your collectives throats and may God help us all for the prejudice of a majority that is capable of voting for such a party and individual. God help us all.

1 You have to have Congress pass a budget. The do-nothing Repugs refuse ANYTHING Obama offers.
2 – You may be right. But at least we're down to only ONE war no.
3 – Again, the GOP has blocked ANY and ALL Obama offered legislation. You can't get anything done with a do-nothing GOP who only offers legislation that the KNOW will not pass Dem muster, and fail in the Senate. They can then blame Obama. Yawn....
4 – NOT TRUE! Obama's deficit this year is $500B LESS than that of Dubya's as he left office ($1.4T).
5 – True. But Fed resources sent to TX/AZ for securing the border were "re-prioritized" by the GOP leadership of those state and send to other locations. Again.. blame Obama.
6 – No policies for Iran or North Korea or Palestine or Syria
7 – We are out of Afghanistan in 2014, or did Faux Noise neglect to report that ???
8 – Obama never promise Tax Reform. That more GOP smoke and mirror tactics.
9 – WRONG!! The less drilling on Federal Land than under Bush was due to Bush laws that went into effect. Check some FACTS. Speaking of FACTS.. offshore drilling greatly is GREATLY INCREASED under Obama – currently double the rig count in the Gulf than under Dubya. Keystone SHOULD be delayed. None of the content is destined for the US. It's all for EXPORT !
10 – TARP spending was $850B and it was under Dubya's regime that it was implemented. Obama inherited TARP, did not create it. Again please check your FACTS!!
11 – The most polarizing and partisanship has been as a direct result of the GOP's "let's make Obama a one term President" approach.
12 – A campaign strategy involving class warfare, religious warfare, economic warfare, and race warfare straight from the GOP playbook. That anyone falls for that garbage amazes me.
13 – An INCREASE in the stature of the US worldwide. He and Hilary have spent THREE years undoing the damage done by the Bush administration.
14 – ????
15 – What do you think ACA is.. It's 95% GOP Romneycare, but because it came from Obama its now bad??? Extreme hypocrisy!!
16 – There's NOTHING wrong with SS. If the $3.4T in Treasury IOU's were repaid.. it would be fine.

We need courage, honesty, and resolution in the Oval Office. We have it. The GOP wants to take us back top the days of Reagan, and Bushies... HUGE Deficits, WARS, decreased taxes and trickle-down economics. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence know how well that has worked out for us. Right?

I will not write a mini-thesis as you have done. I dont think it is productive to try to answer every perceived disagreement in one post. I will just pick one where I think you are wrong. The Keystone pipeline was researched for 3 years when BO was asked to make a decision. There was plenty of time to work out disagreements and come up with alternate plans. BO said there needed to be more research and was going to put it off until after the election. He knew that if he made a decision he would alienate a part of his base (environmentalists vs unions). He wanted to wait until after the election to do that instead of doing what was best for the country. There are many examples of how BO has been more of a politician than a President. I do agree that the pipeline would not benefit the U.S. with the oil that would come from Canada. Still, BO chose to play politics with the decision and not do the job he was sent to do. I think that was a poor display of leadership from the WH.

April 23, 2012 at 2:56 pm |

Hugh Jass

"The Keystone pipeline was researched for 3 years when BO was asked to make a decision."

There was still no clear consensus after three years. The president isn't an expert on pipelines; he had his advisors look it over and decided not to decide.

April 23, 2012 at 3:56 pm |

Reggie from LA

That's an interesting little list you've got there. "iNTERESTING" being the operative word. I could, but won't, don't have the time to take it apart for you, but it's fairly baseless talking points that either you truly believe or want to influence others to believe. Must have taken you some effort (or misunderstanding of our socio-political climate) to omit many facts from what you posted. Unfortunately, there'll be folks buying your "FACTS". Sad.

1 – Budgets are passed every year
2 – No one controls congress unless they have 60+% in senate. Democrats never had that. The healthcare law would save money if the GOP doesn't sabotage the parts that actually save money.
3 – Unemployment over 8% – happened on Bush's watch and first few months of Obama's admin – before any of his policies could have an effect. The GOP House sabotaged any further Obama policies that would have helped.
4 – Deficit spending was due to extraordinary economic catastrophe, brought on by 8 years of GOP fun times for the rich.
5 – Obama deported more illegal immigrants than Bush
6 – Iran, North Korea, Palestine, Syria have been intractable problems for decades. So...suck it.
7 – Obama has set up a sensible plan for departure despite difficulties in this region.
8 – No real tax reform? You're right, and it's not likely as long as the GOP still advocates for the interests of ONLY the wealthiest.
9 – Obama has a REAL energy policy based on alternative sources to fossil fuels, and oil production is greater in the US than at any time, including during oil-man Bush years.
10 – Almost a billion in TARP spending? That was your man Bush that set that up. Give him credit. It worked. Most of it was paid back
11 – NO transparency in governing? That's hard when you are looking at it with fogged up glasses.
12 – Class warfare, religious warfare, economic warfare, and race warfare? GOP set that up with massive tax cuts to the rich, paid for by the poor and middle class, insisting that employers impose their religious beliefs on employees, and fighting Obama on everything down to his birth certificate, because, well, he looks different.
13 – A decrease in the stature of the US worldwide? I am laughing very hard on this one. The rest of the world despised us during the Bush years. They have an immense amount of respect for Obama. They are disgusted by everything the GOP is doing.

I wont try to discuss all of your points. I will pick one. There have been no budgets passed. There have been continuing resolutions to fund the government. The Constitution requires that a budget be passed annually. Will you hold the Dems accountable for not meeting that requirement?

April 23, 2012 at 2:59 pm |

irbsod

Psst! Presidents cannot pass a budge. That is up to the feeble minded congress currently controlled by the tea party. And no, they have not passed a budget that the president could have vetoed.

1. It's not the president's job to pass a budget. It's his job to submit one to Congress. He has. It's Congress' job to pass it. The Constitution does NOT require the president to "PASS" a budget. The Congressional Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 requires the President to submit a budget to Congress between the first Monday in January and the first Monday in February . Furthermore prior to 1921 no president was required or obligated to even submit one to Congress. So go PUSH YOUR LIES ELSEWHERE.
2."..may be overturned" is NOT the same as "overturned". Furthermore Obama NEVER controlled all three branches of government (another DC OBSERVER LIE). And "wasting" three years implies that Obama did nothing else during his three years in office.

3. The unemployment increase started under Bush and continued, and Obama happened to become president when the "sewage was already in and traveling down the pipeline". Unemployment is dropping under his stewardship. So saying unemployment over 8% is saying a lot of nothing. Had the high rate of unemployment started under his presidency then maybe you could have made a case. As it stands right now unemployment and the recession started under Bush and was left for Obama to fix. The economy under Obama is recovering and unemployment is steadily decreasing. We've had 25 + months of job growth. YOU HAVE NO CASE.

4. The debt and deficit spending was done/implemented under Bush (google Bush stimulus package)and continued by Obama. You seem to have selective memory. Since clowns like you want to give Bush policies credit for killing Bin Laden then I'm sure you'll correctly attribute the debt increase and deficit spending to Bush as well since it's Bush's policies that GOT us into this mess.

5. The Dems never controlled EVERYTHING (you must mean the republicans obstructed EVERYTHING) plus he hasn't left office yet so there's still time.
6. Obama does have policies for Iran NK Palestine and Syria. It's just policies you don't like. But who cares? You didn't vote for him in the first place. He doesn't need to do what YOU want. He doesn't need to remake the world in the image you plan for it.
7. He has plans to responsibly (or as responsible as possible) leave Afghanistan. Just because his timetable doesn't match yours isn't proof of failure. You clowns are the same hypocrites who complained that Obama was leaving Iraq too early, as though he had a choice other than to follow the legally binding SOFA agreement signed by Bush.
8. No "real" tax reform. That depends on the definition of "real", and your subjectiv point of view or definition of "real" is worthless.
9. More criticize, criticize, criticize and on, and on
Everything else you posted comprise subjective points of view arguments – NOT established fact, so I won't even waste anymore of my time arguing against your opinion since it will be as pointless as arguing whether or not red is a beautiful or just a so so color.

YOUR POST IS NONSENSE AND CONTAINS FALSEHOODS APLENTY WHILST BEING SHORT ON FACT. Anyone who is naive enough to think that every president will be able to do everything they set out to do at a time satisfactory to all is delusional and should be immediately readmitted to the psychiatric ward of the mental hospital they escaped from. You must live in the Matrix and must be the ruler of the virtual world in which you belong.

Acutemind, you have hit a BULLSEYE. You are right, no more wasting time replying to 'empty heads' that have absolutely no facts to base their biased opinions upon. You know they will keep coming and it's unfortunate that these are the same uninformed and biased people that will go to the voting booth to decide on our country's future.

April 23, 2012 at 1:23 pm |

Rick from LA

{Quote}1 Obama – the only president NEVER to pass a budget as required by the Constitution and during the most difficult economic times.
-Vetoed ones that would of damaged the economy.

2 – Wasting three years when Obama controlled all three branches of government, using the time by passing a health care law that will not produce the savings he promised but will cost us $500 billion + and may be overturned by the Supreme Court
-Obama did not control all 3 branches.

3 – Unemployment over 8% – the longest period of any sitting President – and the highest sustained unemployment since the Great Depression
-Inherited the unemployment trend from previous adminsitration and is reversing the job loss. 8 years of errors cannot be fixed in 3

4 – Obama added more debt and did more deficit spending then any President in history – and lost our credit rating in the process – and NEVER proferred any plans to cut spending to reduce our deficit budgets or reduce the debt
-Credit rating down graded by an organization that was being targeted for federal regulations. Coincidence?

5 – Despite repeated campaign promises, no immigration reform even though he could have passed ANYTHING when the Dems controlled EVERYTHING
-Congressional republicans issued the most filibusters in recorded hisotry during the Democratic party majority. How can you pass a law when everything you propose no matter how beneficial never makes it out of debate.

6 – No policies for Iran or North Korea or Palestine or Syria
-Iran & Syria: Containment via economic Sancations. These countries are protected militarily by Russia and China, If we have a president Romney in the next year and he decided to act militarily, World War III will be the bloodiest in history if anyone is left to remeber it.
-North Korea: Diplomacy through economic incentives. Any hostile acts against NK will bring in China with guns blazing. NK is China's buffer/proxy

7 – A continuing of the failed Afghan War with no courage to just leave given that our mission is now done with Bin laden killed and Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan (the Taliban were never our targets)
-I am confused I thought we were pulling out in 2014?

8 – No real tax reform – just a smoke and mirrors Populist Buffet rule approach which, while popular, does NOTHING constructive.
-Cannot pass any tax reform that does not benefit the upperclass.

9 – No energy policy and less drilling on Federal Land than under Bush ( all the new ventures coming in the private sector) – offshore drilling greatly curtailed; Keystone delayed in regulations and oversight for 4 years; no new ideas.
-Incorrect. Under this administration, offshore drilling is at it's highest ever. Domestic drilling does not affect fule prices as those are set by OPEC. The continent of North America does not have the energy reserves to sustain US demand.

10 – Almost a billion in TARP spending and unemployment still above 8%
-General Motors highest profits in history and new plants opening up. Ford and Chrysler also doing amazingly well. Manufacturing rebounding, TARP=modest success

11 – Despite many promises to the contrary – NO transparency in governning and despite campaign promises, the most polarizing and partisan administration in the history of the US
-Incorrect. Republican party polarized itself to combat Obama's political stardome. Laws propsed by democracts and agreed to by republican comittee members were voted down by the same republican committe members. You can move

12 – A campaign strategy involving class warfare, religious warfare, economic warfare, and race warfare
-Class warfare is justified, there is no religious warfare, economic warfare is with China so you are right, and what race warfare?

13 – A decrease in the stature of the US worldwide
-Incorrect, we have regained much of our prestige but had a setback with the Wiki leaks debacle

14 – Untrustworthy in the eyes of many ( telling Russia he will have more flexibility on missle defense policies after his last election)
-Anything the president does right now no matter how small will be viewed in a bad light. After the elections he can act without worry. He is carrying on the Bush Adminstration strategy of trying to include Russia in the defense network.

15 – afraid to tackle medicare reform despite campaign promises to the contrary
-Um they call it Obamacare for a reason

I guess you Republicans are sad about all the lack of terrorist attacks, the death of bin Laden and the improved standing of the US in the world under Obama. So sad. Obama's presidency highlights why Americans should never, EVER trust Republicans with US foreign policy again. It puts Americans and the entire world in danger whenever we have a Republican in the White House. Obama rocks. Best president of my lifetime! I can't wait to elect him for 4 more years!

Right.......... the times square bomber that didn't know how to detonate his car bomb, the underwear bomber on christmas day over detroit. Those are only two of the many that happened. He murdered a u.s. citizen in yemen with a droid and obama gets a free pass from all of you. Sounds just like bush to me.

"Improved standing in the world"? You must be from another Planet Our standing and influence on the world stage today is the lowest in 50 years -–heck even the OAS laughed Obama out of the recent meetings in Columbia by voting overwhelmingly to let Cuba join them next year - Israel cannot stand Obama and is going its own way towards a War with iran; Iran and North Korea act with impunity with no fear; Syria laughs at us and continues the killing – Europe does not listen to us; China continues to cheat on trade and intellectual property issues; Russia is (going to )get its way on Missle Defense (after Obama's last election when has has more flex); Pakistan has shut off supply lines into Afghanistan; Karzai will not let us attack enemy positions without his prior approval; India is holding nuclear missle tests; Iraq tossed us out early; Iran has our secret Drone; the secret Servise is partying on duty; Gee, we sure are popular right now aren't we - NOT

We are not popular in areas where our troops remain, true enough. But most of the civilized world has the highest respect of this president, and distain for the preceding one. Where President Obama is least respected is among those who are swayed by the likes of Rush, Sean, and Fox.

April 23, 2012 at 12:40 pm |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

Everything you just stated is pure bullshit!

April 23, 2012 at 12:46 pm |

FLIndpendent

I'll bet when President Obama is out of office he'll be free to travel anywhere in the world without worries, unlike Bush & Cheney who can't because they will be arrested for war crimes. You people really need to stop getting your "new" from Fox...it's destroying what's left of your minds. So pathetic!

April 23, 2012 at 1:22 pm |

Hugh Jass

Man, you are BATHING in the koolade. What you are saying is just completely wrong, and you begin by asking US what planet we are on? Obviously not the Bizarro-world you are talking about, where Obama ranks below Dubya in the eyes of foreign countries. We got hit on 9-11 because we had the weakest president ever, given the job by his dad's friends after losing the election, and we haven't been hit since Obama took office because they fear him. Nobody's going to vote for a super-rich Mormon, are you kidding? Get used to it.

"This is yet another example of Mitt Romney's willingness to say anything to get elected, no matter how reckless it may be."

I can't stop laughing at this one. A DEMOCRAT has the nerve to say this about the other candidate? Let's see... who promised the country...

No lobbyists in his cabinet
Transparency in government
A 30 day public comment period on all bills placed on his desk
To Cut the deficit in HALF by the end of his first term
No more earmarks/pork barrel politics
Ending coporate tax loopholes (See GE's tax bill – oh yeah, that's right BO and GE's CEO are buddies)
and let's not forget... SHOVEL READY JOBS!!!!

I thought it was a Dem who promised us all of this... and none of it has happened. Talk about saying anything... Sheeesh!!!

Although, I suppose there's a couple of shovel ready jobs – cleaning up all the BS that's been spewed from the White House since this guy took office. I am not a dem or a repub – both parties disgust me equally. Bush wasn't all that wonderful either. But our current President talked a lot of game during his campaign – I have yet to see anything approaching what he promised.

One thing is to promise a variety of things, another is to SLAM against reality when taking office. I am certain President Obama was naive in thinking he could 'change' Washington. Wrong answer! however, he is trying his best to get it right in spite of 'reality', has tried to reach 'across the aisle' in spite of Republicans 'open season' against him. As we all know, the Republican's agenda is not to make this country better but to make President Obama 'A ONE TERM PRESIDENT'. Isn't that right, even at the expense of our citizen's best interests. Isn't that right?

Say what you want about President Obama but while you do, continue to think and behave like the GOP and pretent that President Obama went into office with a surplus, a stable and thriving America, with no foreign wars to deal with, no inflated national deficit and no economic crisis! And continue to pretent that our President got the full cooperation of congress! After all, from day one these people said openly that they wanted the President and America to fail! And everything they have done for three plus years has been consistent with their willingness to see that our President and America fail! Let's face it, the President cannot get everything done without input and support of all of congress! And as they say, a black man in America always have to proove himself twice and be twice as good as his white counterpart to get some respect! Say what you want!

cut the dude some slack he's obviously from a Red State, probably a southern one – edgamecation not so good

April 23, 2012 at 12:44 pm |

Steve

He won't need congressional approval. Bush set the precedent that the president can just tell us to invade whatever country he wants without consenting congress. Then Obama did the same thing. And romney will follow. They're all the same open your eyes you blind sheep.

Dickie you are what is wrong with this country. Bush knows taht he may be found guilty of war crimes – that is why he doesn't leave this country for anything. WMDs were never found in Iraq so what, exactly, was the reason for invading Iraq and "getting" Saddam Husein. You are an idiot. I'll bet you watch FOX news and listen to Rush Limbaugh.

The truth is Mr. ROmeny is not a leader, but a populist. He will turn and turn, in order to say whatever it is he thinks will ghet him elected. He has no ingrained positions, they shift with the wind. This country needs a leader, not a populist. Obama leads, even when it is costly to his popularity. He has nerve and cool.

Hard to say Romney not a leader when he succeeded in sucking the last ounce of capital out of dying corporations, was a pragmatic governor, and a bishop within a socialist oligarchy. Yet, Massachusetts legislators have questioned his detached style of leadership.

Both Obama and Romney lack the qualifications to run this country. If you think there is any difference to each of their foreign policies, you are gravely mistaken. Obama has done nothing but continue the disastrous policies of the Bush administration. Our country needs someone in the White House who has the courage to do the exact opposite of what we have been doing for far to long; policing the world, preemptive perpetual wars at the cost of trillions of tax payers dollars. Our dollar is devaluing to the point of critical, our credit rating has been reduced once again, inflation is killing us. Obama and Romney are the same thing, and both very very bad for this country.

Romney has filled his foreign policy team with Bush-era neocon warhawks like John Bolton. And with his moderate/liberate leanings (Romneycare) that makes him the worst of Obama and the worst of Bush combined. Republicans just want Obama out. Then why don't they vote for Ron Paul who consistently, poll after poll, defeats Obama in a 1 on 1 matchup, while Romney ties or loses. What is wrong with Republicans? I guess they want to lose. Honestly, it's probably better that Obama wins. Because then the GOP will be punished for propping up a fake conservative Obama-clone, and maybe, just maybe, next time they'll back a conservative/libertarian who isn't insane.
Nothing is more insane than endless wars and endless debt.
RP2012

The Republicans are panicking..They know if President Obama gets a second term.. We are not going to see the nice compromising Obama.. we are going to see a strict..not taking crap from Republicans Obama!!!

Agree! But its not just that! They're also concerned that the black President is being successful and re-writing the American history books! Unlike GWB who inherited a surplus, a stable and thriving America and no foreign wars, here we have a President who inherited two deadly and costly wars, a severely inflated national deficit and the worst economic crisis in American history with no cooperation from the GOP, only deliberate opposition and roadblocks! Yet he has been able to stabilize our economy, improve our national security, end the illegitimate Iraqi war, set a deadline to end the Afghan war, he has helped to inspire and bring democracy to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya and so on! Hey that's leadership worthy of a Noble Peace Prize!

The first black Democratic president being one of the most successful is the Repubs worst nightmare. Why else would they want to block everything he's proposed since Day 1. They are so afraid that Obama's policies will succeed that they are scrambling and besides themselves to find something that will stick against this president. This campaign will only become much uglier once Romney is the official nominee which, by the way, he isn't yet.

The wars were voted on and approved by both parties. Both parties supported the wars the whole time. The surplus you mention was only on paper. They had to take some items off budget to make the numbers match. Even then it was done by a GOP controlled Congress. You mention a severely inflated national deficit. How does the deficit look now? I do agree that the Bush administration spent too much. In all fairness they had to deal with the costs of 9/11 and he had a Dem controlled Congress the last two years of his administration. Still, BO makes Bush look like a spend thrift. You are trying to credit BO with inspiring what happened in Egypt, Syria, etc...?? I wonder if you know how desperate you look trying to give BO credit for something he didnt do.

What else is he supposed to do? Umm, let's see... unemployment is down, the economy is showing signs of steady, albeit slow, improvement, people are realizing health care bill is in their interest adn has kept many young people insured when they would otherwise have no access, Bin Laden is gone.... and even the housing industry is picking up.

Romney has no experience in foreign policy and knows not of what he speaks.

Mittens is beyond pathetic.. all he does is attach the President with false accusations and baseless lies. I mean, foreign policy?!? Any reasonably intelligent person can see how much better this country is from a foreign policy standpoint & how much its improved in the past 4 years from the embarrassing **ithole that GW left us in – and yet, Mittens attacks Obama for his successes. Romney is gonna get trounced in 2012... I dare any self-respecting, semi-aware, quasi-intelligent repulithug to do anything so stupid as to vote for Mittens.. I dare you.

Why do you Republicans have to attack my President all the time. The majority of Americans voted for this man. Oh that 'sright according to the Republicans Obama is not even a human being. To the hell with democracy we have to vote for who the Republicans want not what the majority wants. We will make you life unbearable in less you do what we want you to do. Communist thugs. What gives you people the right to belittle,badger,insult,degrade,attack, slander,personal attacks on a man that is trying to help this country. If you people don't have respect for the highest office, then you will respect no one. Haven't you Republicans realized that you have gotten hurt other Americans from your hate ridden, relentless attacks on other none Republican voters?? All you people do is cause trouble, I listen to it everyday. you Republican are so shallow and self centered, that you don't realized when you close the government it is costing a republican their job. Can't wait until they close down the board of education and stop all the government programs why because you people will pay too. Why should I pay to educate a republican or pay for you to have social security. Can't wait until Romney gets in because he will go after all this and as long as a republican goes with out, I'm all in. As long as republicans die in these wars, then it wasn't in vein to have wars. you republicans are real good at dishing the slander out but you people can't take it. One thing that I found out in these last four years. Their are two kinds of people, Republicans and democrats. The haves and the have not's. we are not Americans. Everyone that slanders this president should be ashamed of your self's.

As long as you can blame one else. Then you don't have to take responsibility for your own actions. That is what you republicans are so famous at doing passing the buck.Well the other guy did it, the other guy called names. This is just a out that you can use to slander some one else. just like the gun issues. This is all find and dandy as long as you republicans die by your guns rights, I'm all for it. NO republican has been killed you people can't say the same Thank god no one was murder from Acorn, That was a made up lie. you superior republicans want it your way and you will degrade a human being to get it. You even will back stab your own mother. If it means that you will have more money in your pocket and in flick pain on someone else can't wait until Romney gets in because you will get what you are seeing.

April 23, 2012 at 12:57 pm |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

@ever4lasting

Good post! And it is ashmed that the conservatives in this country is resorting to fear mongering, and using threats of violence to intimidate and and influence voters! When things don't go their way, they're using intimidation and violence or threats of violence to have their way! Their domestic terroristic teabags have already gunned down Congresswoman Gabriella Giffords and left her crippled for life and they have murdered an innocent ten year old American girl waving the American flag and they have blowned up the oil rig in the Gulf tof Mexico to create more roadblocks for the Obama administration! As they said from day one, their wish is for Obama and America to fail and so far, these dommestic rightwing terrorist have shown that if they're not dealth with harshly, they will continue to plot to undermine our democracy!

When they're not hiring a Hispanic gunman to shoot up the White House as a means of manupulating the Hispanic vote like a scene from the wild west, they're hiring a Jewish newsapaper publisher in Atlanta GA to call for the assasination of our President just to manipulate the Jewish vote! And all over the south, the're have gone as far as to display all sorts of bumber stickers calling for the assassination of our President! Now we have the likes of Ted Nugent threatening to undermine our democracy with threats of revolt against our government as though our country didn't learn anything from the civil war! Our first Lady is also being rediculed as well as their children and the entire Obama family! But I'm not worried at all because President Obama is going to prevail and he will prevail because God is on the President's side and he's on America's side!

Republicans love to believe that everyone hates Obama and that they can veer far off to the right all they want because no one in their right mind would vote for him again. Even if that were true, what they fail to realize is that people, even if un-happy with Obama, will STILL not vote for a Republican candidate who's so far off in right-field that he (and I mean HE as in rich old white guy) is actually in left-field. And that is the reality of today's Republican Party. They can actually blame the tea party in part, who has become very unpopular.

How many of his 5 sons have inspired to serve our nation in ANY capacity? Please provide any examples.

April 23, 2012 at 12:13 pm |

NoKidding

Don't know if that's true or not, but Romney has 5 grown sons, none of them in the military. Yes so do go to war Mr Romney, you know your sons are safe! It's the middle class and poor people's sons and daughters who are going to go fight the stupid wars that you repubs want so badly.

That really underestimates the worldwide outreach of this very successful organization, with its culturally sensitive and respectful missionary programs, which will be much enhanced with a member in the White House.

romney is such a vicious loser. if was not born wealthy, he woukld be throwing empty beer cans at the television in his trailer. he is nothing more than a failed ex gov and a businessman who eliminated thousands of american jobs to make a profit. is this the best the republican party has to offer?

Hilarious!!! A spineless, limp-wristed Romney, who can't even stand up to the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Ted Nugent tries to play tough guy on foreign policy. BWAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! Can't you just imagine romney, and his scared rabbit mannerisms speaking with other national leaders. His flip-flopping and his lies are known to the world, I think that alone would weaken him – why would the leaders of other countries believe anything he says.

BTW – the bulk of Romneys foreign policy advisors are leftovers from the Bush admin. In a sane and rational world, those losers would be shamed, not hired by a presidential candidate.

Dismal record? Did you learn that fancy word from GWB's new children's library? Moron!

April 23, 2012 at 12:11 pm |

NoKidding

Obama's record was to try and save the country from falling into the abyss of GW Bush economic collapse. An undertaking that takes superhuman efforts, I would think.

April 23, 2012 at 12:15 pm |

grif99999

blah blah. BO does have a dismal record. There has been constantly high unemployment his whole administration. There are record deficits. There was a downgrade of the National Credit rating for the first time in the history of the country. There are constant record foreclosure rates. Please tell me what part of that is not dismal? Also, why is it you think calling others names helps you make your point? It says so much about you.

April 23, 2012 at 3:14 pm |

grif99999

NoKidding. The economic collapse was caused when the housing bubble burst. That was caused by the Dem controlled Banking committee trying to influence the mortgage market. The Dems need to be held accountable for their part in getting the country into the economic mess we are in.

April 23, 2012 at 3:16 pm |

Big_D

What makes me laugh is Romney is concerned about a country that can't launch a single liquid rocket but he doesn't understand Pakistan who has rockets that work is even a danger.

I can't wait for the General Election Debates.. President Obama is going to mop the floor with Mittens..Because the GOP knows that Mittens has a tendency of not answering the question!! It's going to be like taking candy from a baby!!

If God had found fault with our President, all things considered, He would have provided an option. Even the GOP leadership figured the negative propaganda would not stick and decided to sit this one out.

April 23, 2012 at 12:19 pm |

MateoinUtah

Regardless of what you think about President (secret Muslim) Obama, he is very well spoken and articulate. The Romneybot 2000 on the other hand, has a glitch in his software that make him contract himself at least once a day, not to mention the times he puts his foot in his mouth. He also has a tendency, if you haven't noticed, to blurt things out without taking the time to think about them (kind of like most of your posts). He's the perfect Republican Candidate! LOL

April 23, 2012 at 12:58 pm |

obama policies are foreign

this story should be under politics , obama does not have a foreign policy due to its to risky and could derail all chances of re-election.

north korea today says that soul will be reduced to ashes by an attack of some sort from the north in the coming days.

ask al qaeda about Obama's foreign policy deficiencies. And blurting out that you would just bomb Iran show's Romney's complete lack of foreign policy knowledge. Most Iranians do not support their government. Bombing them is not the solution and virtually EVERY military expert has pretty much agreed. So pandering to the southern rednecks about dropping bombs on the "Muslims" might play well in the primaries, but most Americans are smarter than that. Most Americans, a vast majority in fact, are against going to war again in the Middle East. Especially since most realize that there is no benifit to such.

I'm not sure the GOP should be waiving the foreign policy battle flag when the 8 trillion from the two nation building exercises they started is still our number one deficit and security concern. The problem with the GOP budget numbers they publish is that the two wars were never accounted for in Bush's deficit.

I find it amusing that none of the Republicans haven't mentioned George W. Bush...They are smart for dodging that name because he was the major cause of this economic freefall.. I wonder if they going to invite him the GOP convention!!

The combined cost of both the Afghan and Iraqi wars to date is 4.8 trillion dollars and counting! The final tabulated cost of the combined wars by the end of the Afghan war is projected to be a whopping six trillion dollars! Since President Obama has been in office, the GOP has consistently stressed fiscal responsibility and have accused the President of wasteful spending and of inflating the national deficit because of passage of the Stimulus bill that was designed to stabilized the economy and put Americans back to work! Too bad we can't give the GOP a one way ticket to southern Syberia!

April 23, 2012 at 12:05 pm |

grif99999

Maybe you should look up what caused the housing bubble to burst. That is the major cause for the economic problems we have now.

GW Bush BRAGGED about how many people became homeowners under his watch!

April 23, 2012 at 12:39 pm |

grif99999

Bush also warned the Dem controlled Banking committee that they needed to regulate the mortgage industry more. I believe it was Barney Frank that called that Chicken Little policies. It was something like that.

April 23, 2012 at 3:26 pm |

His is a fake

The Royal family of England send heirs to the throne into combat situations... Mitt, who has 5 sons physically capable of serving our country, will gladly offer up the middle class and poor citizens sons and daughters for war. He will double the spending in defense...he will wipe out Iran and North Korea and Cuba... but he won't offer up a son.. and not one of his sons has offered to sacrifice for the good of the country.

You do know that the miltary is all volunteer, right? No one hs to offer up anything genius. If his sons go and join then so be it. Clinton nor obama served and that was their right to do so. No one saw chelsea clinton run to therecruiters office when somalia broke out. Your arguement is stupid.

True its voluntary for some but for many poor Americans its the only chance they will ever get for a college education and a career after high school.

Mitt Romney is a war hawk, just like George W Bush. He wants America to be at war because he personally knows he has nothing at stake. Its not his pension that will take a hit when we spend trillions fighting, its not his children that will die fighting.

April 23, 2012 at 11:47 am |

His is a fake

Yes it is volunteer, and neither him or his sons have ever done so.. but they all support a bigger and meaner military... well as long as it doesn't cost them any thing.

April 23, 2012 at 11:52 am |

ldean

Romney has stated publicly that his son's "served their country" when they completed their two year mission for the church – He sees their working for the Mormon church as the equivalent of fighting in Afghanistan – one in the same in his mind. jiminey crickets

You mean to tell me that the only way poor people can get a college education is joining the military?...........LMAO. that is by far and wide the most naive thing I have ever heard. How about student loqans and going to school. Thousands of students do it every year. How about buckling down and getting good grades so the get a free scholarship. Going to school on an academic scholarship is nothing short of impressive. There are other ways. Hell, I did two of them and am now graduated

April 23, 2012 at 12:04 pm |

TheMagusNYC

Can THEMAN give any examples of national service, which Mr. Romney might have inspired in his 5 sons? It gives evidence of self-service, and entitlement, at our expense. We have to make up the troops, and the treasure not paid in taxes.

April 23, 2012 at 12:23 pm |

BeverlyNC

Mitt never served either. He was of age during the Vietnam War but ran to France to suddenly do his Mormon "missionary" work to get others to join his religious cult. Romney is a coward, a rich elitist who has no clue what real America is like and cannot even see the middlle class from his 5 front porches. Even Republicans hate him and not one wants to be on his losing team as VP. He is going to lose badly to President Obama and no Republican wants to be tied to a loser and clueless non-leader with no solutions. Romney is just an arrogant, rich liar.

shouting out your incorrect information will not make it more believable.. but thanks for playing.. and for your effort we will be sending you the "if I only had a brain" baseball cap that you can proudly where around your city.

April 23, 2012 at 11:55 am |

TheMagusNYC

Isn't John McCain's son in the military? Others? Their are no such restrictions, and there are many ways one may choose to serve our nation other than being an overseas recruiter for one's faith organization.

April 23, 2012 at 12:25 pm |

2 klicks N of Ground Zero

You're being too harsh: he may not have urged his sons to join the military but he never strapped them to the top of the car, even though they'd probably love it.

OBAMA DOES THE LIEING!! THE TEA PARTY WILL TAKE OVER CONGRESS AND ROMENY WILL BE PRESDENT AND GOD AND CHRISTIANS WILL BE IN CONTROL OF THIS GODLISS COUNTRY NA DMAKE IT GREAT AGAIN!! WITH GUNS IF NEEDED!!!

Romney knows foreign policy real well He knows how to close down American jobs and help send them over seas. Haven't you Democrats realize yet that only a Republican knows how to do everything the right way?

I understand Mittens and The Republitard financial and foreign policy plan now. We go to war on three fronts with Iran, North Korea, and continue the war in Afghanistan. We then steal all of their oil and the jobs after we create jobs for unemployed college graduates who's jobs were sent overseas to either fight in the wars or working in unused Detroit factories creating war machines or oil rigs. That is of course if we don't have a bunch of sissies who poop their pants and refuse to bathe for a month to avoid going to Vietnam like that Patriotic American Ted Nugent.

The problem with Mitt Romney is that he doesn't relate to hard working Americans.. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.. The American people wants a candidate that they can relate to..He doesn't know what's it like to struggle!! Sorry Mittens the people don't believe you.

Just because Romney hasn't had financial difficulties doesn't mean he hasn't struggled. He has dealt with his wife having cancer and MS. And no one who has raised 5 boys is left unscathed. Every person has trials in life, regardless of their wealth or poverty. Obama's meager upbringing have certainly not helped him be a better president. He's made the poverty worse in this country.

Yes, Ann has MS, and survived cancer... along with hundreds of thousands of others. She is not special in that sense.. she is a survivor.. but not super human. Her family had the resources to get the very best... something that about 95% of the others did not have.
None of this makes her husband a better foriegn affairs expert... the point being made, was he has NO experience , yet touts that he has all the answers. Let me make a suggestion we all would respect... Have one of his sons actaully serve and be an active soldier in one of these countries he thinks we should be destroying. Bidens son has.

April 23, 2012 at 11:45 am |

AlexK

If Ann Romney had the healthcare of the average American who knows if she would be a survivor.

April 23, 2012 at 11:48 am |

Franky

What does dealing with his wifes cancer, especially, in that he can afford the finest healthcare money can buy, have to do with understanding th plight of ordinary people who struggle to make ends meets and struggle to pay for healthcare. Mitt may know struggle but he certainly doesn't know how to struggle when you don't have the resources. To meet those struggles, otherwise he wouldn't be talking about cutting food sta mps, or shipping jobs of hat working citzens overseas because he's ideologically opposed to unions. You know why Obama can relate to having to pay for college and doing more to help students because he and his wife were paying student loans just a couple of years before he fan for president. You know why Michelle can relate to working moms because they had their children and she was still working 9 to 5, miss Romney with her army of care givers had to work so hard I know. Bottom line mittens whole life is out of touch with what average Americans experience, abd it's not envy, it's the fact that he's so arrogant to pretend he know ps their pain and then professes to cut everything that helps us average citizens get to the next level, just so he can help those who already have like himself even more.

April 23, 2012 at 11:50 am |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

First of all I don't care about Mitt Romey's wife regardless of what she has or had because she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth! And don't you dare talk about President Obama's upbringing and his leadership as President or say that he has made the poverty worst in America especially when millions of unemployed and struggling Americans have returned to work, received much needed unemployment and health insurance extensions when the rightwing conservatives in congress refused to act and accused the President of wasteful spending and of inflating the national deficit! let's face it, without passage of the 787 billion Stimulus package, the unemployment rate in this country would have been 20% and we would have surely been in a severe depression! Please gets your facts straight before you start making pointless and outrageous comments!

April 23, 2012 at 11:53 am |

Dickie

YOUR RIGHT!! AND OBAMAS MAMA DIED FROM CANCER FROM TOO STUPID TO FILL OUT PAPERWORK!!! LOSER!!!

VOTE REPUBLICAN OR OBAM WILL TAKE YOUR GUNS!!

April 23, 2012 at 12:06 pm |

acutemind

I'm actually beginning to think Dickie is an Obama supporter dressed in ig'nant redneck clothing trying to debase dem ig'nant rednecks. I tried this once. I wrote a post imploring Santorum to not quit the race saying that God was with him LOL. Alas it didn't work.

April 23, 2012 at 1:30 pm |

Trivi

What is going for Mitt Romney is his ego and etch a sketch – lying mentality. A dangerous combinations indeed.

Obama's foreign policies have been a nightmare for this country. I agree with what was stated at CPAC. Instead of doing what's best for this country, he is an anti-colonialist, like his father, who is attempting to re-shape America to fit with a global ideal. He's treading on dangerous ground.

What? You don't like a war that started and finished in the same year without troops on the ground? We are STILL fighting Bush's disasters because of the GOP inability to comprehend self determination.

I'm not understanding why you say that Obama's policies have been such a "Nightmare". We have ended the war in Iraq. We have disposed of several dictators in the middle east, without any boots on the groud from our troops. We have more international support foe our efforts, and he got Bin Ladden. What specifically do you few as being so "Nightmare-ish"

Libyans could have taken out Ghadafi on their own. A few airstrikes isnt really doing much as to say taking him out since we really didnt do it

April 23, 2012 at 11:55 am |

His is a fake

yes they could have Theman... but it could have taken a lot longer, cost them thousands of more lives... it also coulld have failed... costing even more lives. It is easy to play the "could have game" We "could have" not nuked two cities in Japan... and eventually won the war.... well, we could have.

April 23, 2012 at 12:16 pm |

Tyler

Yeah, we totally had nothing to do with taking out Gaddafi. Even though it was our airstrikes that destroyed his air defense network, our Stealth bombers that destroyed his airfields, our fighter jets and gunships that stopped his advance on Benghazi, our electronic warfare birds that maintained the No Fly Zone and supported the NATO strikes, our Predator drones that took out the snipers terrorizing Misrata, and our intelligence assets that trained and coordinated the fighters that took Tripoli (a tremendous operation in and of itself that could be called 'the Bay of Pigs done right.')

And oh yeah, it was an American Predator drone that spotted and disabled Gaddafi's convoy, directly leading to his Mussolini-style demise. But I guess those GIs who fought in Sicily, Salerno, and Monte Cassino had nothing to do with taking out Il Duce huh?

By that token, I guess we certainly can't give Reagan any credit for throwing the Soviets out of Afghanistan...I mean he only supported the Mujahideen with weapons...not airstrikes or .

The President pursued a policy that saw the world finally rid of not only one of the worst dictators of all time, but after Osama Bin Laden the worst terrorist killer of Americans. And in such a fashion that didn't cost one drop of American military blood or even a fraction of the treasure Bush sunk into Iraq.

April 23, 2012 at 12:38 pm |

BillSD33

Holly, time to wake up and join the 21st century! It is a global economy and world today. Thank goodness our president realizes this.

If the growth you mention is so good why hasnt the unemployment rate dropped?

April 23, 2012 at 3:27 pm |

Flournoy

No wonder these Southern Conservatives are the laughing stock of America... Im shaking my head at these right wing nuts..Ya'll are definitely out of touch.. President Obama got Osama Bin Laden and Gaddafi (Something that the previous adminstration couldn't do) Once again ya'll will be upset after President Obama wins re-election.. and I will laugh at my Republican colleagues.

Sorry, President Obama saw and approved the plan to take Bin Laden. Furthermore, he is the commander in Chief, he is the Military.

April 23, 2012 at 11:35 am |

Now why

Except for under the last administration

April 23, 2012 at 11:44 am |

Mike in MD

Soooo.... Bush JR didn't have any military during his 8 years in office?
While Republemmngcans might be able to apply revisionist history and fool themselves, not all of us are quite so stupid or have such short memories. The current administration has had to spend the last 3 years cleaning up after the previous 8 years and have admittedly not been perfect, but who ever expected them (or anyone else) to be?
Please feel free to pause your own cognitive functioning if you like, but don't insult my intelligence with revisionist stupidity lest you drive me to the other party. Half-truths and outright lies from the last Republican candidates are what finally drove me to change from Rep to Independent. I don't wish to become a Democrat, so keep your delusions to yourself.

April 23, 2012 at 11:52 am |

His is a fake

It is always easier to sit back and disagree with every single thing someone else does... it is easy to take a success and try making it sound like it really wasn't a success. "How do you feel about President Obama giving the order to kill Osama?" ....."Well I think he overstepped his boundries, and now we are in a very difficult situation with Pakistan.. I would have given Pakistan more say so in this case." "So you think it s bad that Osama is dead?"... "Well No, but I just think I would have handled it better."

See how easy it is?

April 23, 2012 at 12:06 pm |

His is a fake

Conservative had a simplistic view when it comes to the military. If a republican is in the White House... all military victories are due to the presidents great leadership.. If it is a democrat in the White House.. then it is just because of past leadership, and nothing to do with the current leadership. Like I said... simplistic... not sophisticatd thinking.

April 23, 2012 at 12:13 pm |

Sean

Holly in CA... then you cannot blame Obama for all the so-called messes.... since he does nothing... none of the achievements were his.. so none of the blames were his either... the economic messes don't belong to Obama... so the economic gains don't belong to him either.... since he literally does nothing... so why in your previous comments, you blame him for all the "bad" foreign policy?

From a Libertarian...a Ron Paul's supporter who hates hypocritical conservatives!

Anyone who puts any credence in this carnivorous jackal who..
dodged the draft..whilst supporting stupid war ..whilst 66k of 18-19 yr olds were slaughtered in the jungles of VN..
tax dodging..
profit plunderer of struggling businesses..
will lower taxes to his rich polo pony..NASCAR owners' friends
with NO foreign experience cept in sheltering profits offshore and Swiss accounts to avoid taxes..

The government didn't take from the private sector. Our beloved corporations outsourcing jobs took from the private sector. Not a new problem – it took 30 years to reach this point. Millions in profits were not adequate for the execs and shareholders. Hundreds of millions in profits sounded so much better – at the cost of your neighbor's job.

What would have Romney done? His apparent positions on the issues of missile defense and N. Korea would likely result in a hot war with N. Korea and another cold war with Russia. Don't the Republifools ever get tired of war

i don't understand how a return to diplomacy and tact has become viewed as a detriment to american society and politics. under the bush administration, the tenets of our foreign policy became delusional and aggressively paranoid. however under the obama administration i believe we have once again reached a level of coherence which has re-established our position of respect and responsibility as the world's lone super-power.

If BO had continued GWB's foreign policies, more of our sky scrapers would have collapsed, we would have been involved in two additional costly wars and our image would not have been restored! You're delusional!

April 23, 2012 at 11:24 am |

bushtrimmer

i believe that the case of libya is a clear deviation of past foreign policy endeavors under bush, where america utilized its military capabilities, and by extension its foreign policy, in a collaborative and efficient manner to resolve an international political conflict.

April 23, 2012 at 11:31 am |

BeverlyNC

You are just repeating stupid statements that are completely false and make no sense by the Republican Party. Apologized to who? For what? President Obama has led the world in handling 3 dictators and smartly let the UN and the Arab League and our Allies get involved to save us money, soldier involvement, and earned us more respect. I thought you Republicans were all about cutting spending – I guess not when you can play war and sacrifice the lives of our soldiers with you sitting in your living room playing video games while our soldiers face real danger for your chicken "not me" to be in your love for war.
President Obama has apologized to no one. He is as a strong, respected leader who has strengthened our national security in the world. Wake up and think for yourself. Republicans are counting on your ignorance and belief in their lies and hate.

April 23, 2012 at 11:31 am |

grif99999

blah blah blah. BO continued the wars that kept the Taliban on their heels and hiding instead of attacking the U.S. Bush started that policy and BO continued it. I have no problem with that but many here are trying to give BO credit for that and bash Bush for doing the same thing. I am not sure why you think our image was restored. I get the feeling that anyone that does not agree with you is "delusional".

April 23, 2012 at 12:11 pm |

grif99999

bushtrimmer. Wasnt BO supposed to have the Libya policy approved by Congress? BO was the first President to side step Congress and just send the troops in. Even Bush got the approval of Congress before going into Afghanistan and Iraq.

April 23, 2012 at 12:13 pm |

grif99999

BeverlyNC. Please explain how BO led anything that had to do with Libya? He sat on his hands and France took the lead. You might want to check your comment about not apologizing. It was one of the first things he did as he got into the WH. Also, Im not a member of the GOP. I consider myself an independant. I am also a retired military person. As for your comment about starting wars....please understand that NO ONE pays a higher price for war than those in the military. If you think the military looks forward to leaving their loved ones to go into harms way you are very mistaken.

April 23, 2012 at 12:17 pm |

bushtrimmer

technically speaking, obama was able to do so through an interpretation of the war powers resolution of 1973, which stipulates that a president must notify congress within 48 hours of a military engagement, and end it after 60 days if not approved by congress. the constitutionality of the endeavor is debated amongst politicians, however many laws are subjectively interpreted by politicians, including the president, all the time, so the legality of the decision is up to personal interpretation of the law

April 23, 2012 at 1:12 pm |

grif99999

The real answer is he should have had the military actions approved by Congress. He was required to do that by law and did not. Do you always deal in technicalities?

April 23, 2012 at 3:29 pm |

bushtrimmer

the question wasn't whether or not i deal in technicalities but whether or not your implications of the libya intervention being illegal were accurate. in this case, they were not as obama acted within his constitutional rights as commander in chief through a legal resolution passed by the united states government, including congress.

April 23, 2012 at 9:49 pm |

BeverlyNC

I agree. President Obama has returned America to a position of respect and has transformed us into a naton that confers with our Alllies and the UN for united efforts in dealing with rogue nations. This fits more intelligently with our now global connections as nations and human beings. It also prevenst the US from being the sole police nation in soldiers, expense, and gets groups like the Arab League to handle their own nations reducing the hate of us by Arab groups and therefore offering us national security from terrorist groups by not being on their soil. Romney knows nothing about foreign policy and we do not need another idiot war monger like Bush in the Presidency. President Obama has handled foreign policy brilliantly. Romney has nothing to offer on any issue so he just lies and looks like the fool he is.

Mitt Romney, what will you be doing when the phone wrings at 3am? Well, let me see...well, I'll be throwing a wild and lavish bash for all by millionaire and billionaire friends! President Obama, what will you be doing when the phone wrings at 3am? Well, I'll be killing OBL! Hahahahaha! Obama/Biden 2012!

Pres G W Bush used the food aid program to try and stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons , but they tested one in 2006 , so according to Romney Pres Bush failed in appeasing N Korea with his foreign policy , isnt attaining nuclear weapons which dont need rockiets to launch and detonate them , a bit more serious than failing to launch a rocket that might be able tp launch satelites or weapons .

The proliferation of “outsourcing” eliminates taxpayers by creating unemployment. This means the remaining tax payers will have to pay more, right? The unemployed will demand more government assistance to help them find work, essentially more government. Romney’s smaller government and lower taxes dialog in the context of his business experience doesn’t make sense. It’s a contradiction. Either he’s lying, or he’s ignorant.

I think everyone knows Obama has done an excellent job at eliminating taxpayers by creating unemployment. Unemployment is highest its been in years under the Obama administration. The "food stamp" president has more people seeking a hand-out than ever before.

President Obama did not "create" unemployment. During the last year of President Bush's term, unemployment rose from 5% to 7.3%. The events that set off the near-depression of the next several years were set in motion even before that. I don't know what you expect an incoming president to do when the boulder was already barreling down the hill.

April 23, 2012 at 11:32 am |

grif99999

When the government takes from the private sector it stifles growth. To increase the size of government does not grow the economy. I can see the government helping out with training for a job but other than that the government needs to be drastically downsized.

Why does the government even need to provide training in your world of "limited government"? Are you a teacher? Conservatives tend to be against any form of government until it benefits THEM. If it benefits others, then it must be scrapped. Besides, you wouldn't want to get rid of too much government. Who would you have as a scapegoat when private industry fails?

April 23, 2012 at 12:53 pm |

???

Grif9999 when the government takes from the private sector it stifles growth? Yet your next statement says the government should assist in training. That in turn would create more government or some type of grant program to be given to each state to help offset the states cost of training it's citizens. Wait I think there's already something like that IT'S CALLED THE UNEMPLOYMENT OFFICE!!!! The unemployment office does more than just give out unemployment checks and send you to the welfare office. They also provide training that is subsidized by the Fed.

Also President Obama has already said he wanted to bring jobs home and wants to offer incentives to companies to bring jobs home, train and build right here in the US. If you want to shut down a plant in the US and send the jobs overseas permanently you should have to pay a penalty.

To stifle growth is to continue to let companies move overseas and let us continue to fall behind in technology in a technological world, allowing companies to seek greater profit not by expansion into foreign countries but by relocating to them. It is a well known fact regardless of your political party that America is falling behind in almost every relavent acedemic category. To truly stifle American growth is to cut education, training and allow more companies to outsource America. I for one am tired of buying America but when I read the fine print it says assembled, manufactured or built in some other country, because that could be somebodys job that is currently on unemployment that I am supporting with my tax dollars

April 23, 2012 at 1:53 pm |

grif99999

HannitysDog. There are some jobs that are inherant to the government. Police, fire, and the military are good examples. The government helping with job training is another. It creates tax paying citizens that make the economy grow. I do think there should be a limited government and what we have now is much to big and much to expensive. I strongly disagree with a larger government with regulations that choke out the job market as we have now. I do not need the government to take care of me and tell me what to do. I think if more people in the country werent so dependant on the government we would live in a better place.

April 23, 2012 at 3:34 pm |

grif99999

??? I guess you are ok with all the over spending that they are doing now? The government has over promised benefits to the point that most Federal programs are at the point of not surviving. I am not a fan of NAFTA. I do not think the government put in enough protections for our industries and our economy. The spending the government does has to be brought to the level of revenue they take in. Too often the over spending is done to buy votes by politicians just interested in maintaining their political careers.

April 23, 2012 at 3:39 pm |

snowdogg

It is easier to attack than lay out your own rational/reasoned plan for any Federal Government function. Mitt is a stiff suit concerned with the 1% faction.

So the grand bargain that the President had offered, to cut 4 trilliion from our debt by combining spending cuts and reforms to medicaid and SS combined with small tax increases to the wealthy by elliminating their tax cuts, wasn't a plan to you? Too bad that our Bonehead speaker of the House walked away from it.

April 23, 2012 at 11:54 am |

Mojo Jack

The GOP has had nothing be weak candidates at best this year. Now their elected candidate claims he will "bracket" Obama's speeches by speaking before and after him.

This all speaks volumes about how desperate the GOP is. Their entire strategy since 2008 has been to say "no" which causes problems and then point the finger at the Democrat. The strategy is failing.

Obama wants your guns? Tell me, what anti gun laws has Obama signed into law? Answer is none. The only gun related law he did sign allows CCW holders to carry in National parks. On the other hand, Romney is responsible for several anti-gun laws including a ban on so-called assault rifles in MA.

I know you're not serious right? You're just trying to bump people's heads right? Please say YES lol! Where's YOUR Birth Certificate? His is in the same place, settled issue! We are not falling for the fools gold dude!

Obama got Bin Laden on his watch, and he managed to get rid of Gaddafi with international support, a fraction of the money Bush spent in Iraq, not to mention no loss of American lives. Mitt should stop barking up the wrong tree and stick with the economy. He's got nothing on Obama when it comes to foreign policy.

Some of your "facts" are incorrect. Please tell us how BO got Gadaffi? The news reported he was captured by Libyans. Also, the wars were voted on and approved by BOTH parties. Both parties supported the wars the whole time. I know you like to blame Bush but that is not accurate.

Reading comprehension?? "got rid of Gaddhafi with international support". It's not as romantic as a full scale invasion, but just as effective.

April 23, 2012 at 1:04 pm |

NoKidding

Got rid of Ghadaffi with international support, saving a potential trillion dollars and a few thousand of our soldiers lives that could have been wasted. GW Bush= Stupid. Obama=Smart!

April 23, 2012 at 1:30 pm |

???

Approved by both parties under false pretenses. Remember WMD was the reason for Iraq. Sadam was supposed to be supporting Al Queda, then it switched to prevention of genocide then freedom of a particular Iraqi group. Afghanistan started out as a Special Operations mission in search of WMD that were moving across the border then it switched to terrorist training camps and Bin Liden. GW and his team spent months putting together video surveillance, fuzzy photos and misqoutes or coerced false statements from enformants to gain support.

Bin Laden should have always been the main target but I really don't think he was a target at all under GW. It just seems wierd this man ran for years under GW and all we got was a bunch of dead soldiers and videos of BL. A measly a or so after GW leaves BL is dead by US hands before he probably would have died of old age. I have no clue what that other crap was all about.

April 23, 2012 at 2:16 pm |

grif99999

HannitysDog. The point I made is BO did NOT get Gadaffi. It is amazing to see so many here try to give him credit for things he did not do. It just makes you all look desperate to say that BO did something.

April 23, 2012 at 3:43 pm |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

These rightwing conservatives don't believe in higher education and neither do they believe in women's lib! They'd rather our women stay at home and be uneducated! Unfortunately the majority of the women in this country don't have the luxary of seven nannies and butlers!

How the hell do you figure that Bush caught Osama? Bush said that getting Osama was not even a priority or that important.

You TEAtards are so detached from reality that it is beyond belief. But what else can one expect from reactionary mental defectives of the same kind who would have gladly burned Copernicus at the stake for the blasphemy that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa?

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You go Dickie. That's exactly how those deranged and ignorant racist redneck posters sound....and yes they can't even spell "lying" correctly. Their logic is troglodyte in nature.

...as opposed to having never held a real job, not even completing a term in the senate?
In addition to the Olympics Mitt Romney ran a successful company and was governor of a state. That would make him at least 300% more qualified than Obama.

Mr. Obama has been the president for three years and three months. That would be three and three months longer than Mr. Romney. Given that there is a nearly 100% correlation between the experiential characteristics of being president for the last three years and three months to being president for the next four years and nine months, the experience comparison just doesn't hold water. Try something else.

April 23, 2012 at 11:05 am |

grif99999

Poblus Novus. I disagree that the comparisans do not hold water. Look at the results for the two candidates. BO has been terrible for the economy. He has expanded government and regulations. We have had the National Credit Rating lowered for the first time in our history. The unemployment rate is constantly high. There are record foreclosures. MR has been a successful businessman for many years.

April 23, 2012 at 11:34 am |

JustMe

LOL! Mittens equating his foreign policy experience to his experience as head of the SLC Olympic Games is like Sarah equating her foreign policy experience to "I can see Russia from my house".

Luckily Romney has excellent foreign policy advisers from the Bush administration to help him. We know their accomplishments already. Romney is sure to deliver excellent Foreign Policy on par with George Bush if we'll elect him!

Excellent policy advisors? They got us in two unnecessary wars which practically bankrupt us and added 5 trillion $ to the debt, and did not win either of them.They allowed 9/11 and after 8 years of trying and spending over $1B, could not even find Bin Laden!! It was an utter failure in foreign policy.

Both parties voted on and approved the wars you mention. Why do you give the Dems a free pass? They were as much a part of the wars as the GOP was. It is easy to complain from the cheap seats. What would you have done differently?
They "allowed" 9/11 to happen?? With that logic FDR allowed Pearl Harbor to happen too. Have you seen how much BO has contributed to the debt?? He makes Bush look like a spend thrift.

April 23, 2012 at 11:41 am |

Mike Texoma

I hope that Mitt Romney is not a neo-conservative convert. That would give us Bill Krystol (whatever Netanyahu wants Netanyahu gets) in charge of our foreign policy, Grover Norquist (whatever the aggressively greedy want the aggressively greedy get) in charge of fiscal policy and taxation, and Paul Ryan (with Eric Cantor, the starve the beast coalition) in charge of the national budget. I do not see wisdom and balance and compassion in any of that, and so I am dead set gainst it.

Mitt Romney and the republicans as well as their statements about foreign policy and such sure do bring back memories. I remember it was just the other day when I heard this one story. It was about a guy named Joe the Steer Rancher. The story goes that Joe was walking along in his fields one day when he heard something. It was something familiar, as if he had heard it a million times before. He took a whiff of the air. It was something he had smelled a million times before. Then, the story goes, he looked down at his shoes because it felt like he had just stepped into something. He spotted it, or so the story goes.

"G o d d a m n it", he said, looking at his shoes, feeling irritated yet bored, "It's yet another day and it's still just the same old b u l l s h it."

Everything that Mitt says should be viewed through the lens that he will do or say anything to become president. After Bush, Obama's foreign policy shops are awesome. Got Bin Laden. Stayed out of Libya and still got regime change. All of the pointless stupid wars that we're in are leftovers from W. Mitt would get us in more dumb wars because of his unchecked ego and his sense of entitlement, not to mention his need to look tough to his base.

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer,
You missed the point of my comment. To dumb it down for you; I can take all of these comments, replace the Romney's name with Obama and end up with just as much, if not more of a valid statement. That's because these statements lack sustenance and fact.
...And name calling, really?

April 23, 2012 at 10:54 am |

John

Look like someone already turned yours out, if they were ever on in the first place. Your point merely proves you, personally, are capable of proving your point.

April 23, 2012 at 11:22 am |

Realist 007

Not only did he get Osama Bin Laden, he didn't have to invade a country to get him! Like Bush did in Afghanistan.

If Mitt Romney becomes president , he will have us in WW111... in a matter of months. He has no idea how foreign policy works, and everything that comes out of his mouth is an embarassment of just plain stupid. What an idiot.

I totally agree – if we want WWIII, vote Romney & the neo-cons, Many of the same Bush team will be in a Romney administration. When Bush got "elected" I predicted we would be in a war with Iraq in the near term as it was very obvious that Bush II had to "finish" what his Daddy started. Romney, with all his saber rattling, will need to prove himself to the doubtful Repub regime and the Israelis so he will do what they want and that's invade Iran. I find another Repub regime to be very frightening!

Doesnt the prospect of BO spending the country into bankruptcy frighten you?

April 23, 2012 at 11:46 am |

Dennis Price

You would think that after running for President for over eight years Mitt would have some kind of foreign policy fleshed out. Instead we get Obama Bad, Me Good and some meaningless anecdotes that mean zero, zip, nada. We have to come at them from a place of strength. WOW...this guy is a foreign policy juggernaut.

This guy is going to eventually explain himself. Until then he's just an empty vessel.

For an "empty vessel" he's been doing a pretty darn good job the last 3+ yrs, even tho' the GOP has done absolutely NOTHING to help, obstructed EVERY attempt at legislation or budget. OTOT – Obama's administration is getting the economy on track, got rid of OBL/Gadaffi, got the troops out of Iraq, etc. Not bad for an empty vessel, eh?

April 23, 2012 at 10:51 am |

Dennis Price

That's it? That's all you've got. I called Mitt an empty vessel and you turn it around and call President Obama an empty vessel. Much like your party, completely lacking in imagination or vision. Figures.

April 23, 2012 at 11:02 am |

TurnOutTheLights

Dem in the senate have failed to pass a budget in three years. I'd say that nothing.

April 23, 2012 at 11:04 am |

grif99999

The Real Truth. What is it that makes you think BO has done a good job? Is it the constantly high unemployment? It is the record deficits? Is it the record forclosure rate? Is it the National Credit Rating downgrade for the first time in our history?

No Dick you're lying! The President has Never been a Muslim, but so damned what if he were? Is a religion, NOT a way of life clueless!!!! Next time you want to rant about my President make it short & sweet, say I'm racist i hate the black President and I will tell any Repudic an lie to back up my loser claims!

Our foreign policy under Obama is on the rebound. Bush said: "I don't know where Bin Laden is. I really do not care." How can you write off a terrorist that attacked our largest city? Bin Laden and Ghaddfy are gone without costing the a lot of lives and money. America is respected again. Romeny would put us back to the Cold War with Russia.

I have prayed many a times for the lord to save this nation from the tyrant in office now. what saddens me is that so many are blind to his hatred of America and the constitution. he has supported unconstitutional legislation (obamacare) and that alone is enough grounds to impeach him yet the masses stay silent. to add insult to injury he continues to insult Israel, our number one ally. the bible warns that in the end times, the masses will turn against christ and embrace the hatred of lucifer. obama is merely an example of that. it will only get worse from now on. im not afraid of that because im saved. anyone can be saved if they want it.

What world do you live in! What warped thinking. Save us from people like you.

April 23, 2012 at 10:40 am |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

blah blah blah! How many Americans have died as a result of the domestic and foreign policies of the Obama administration? Zero! And how many Americans and innocent foreign civilians have died as a result of Bush's blatant and outrageous policies? Over a million! You're just envy and jealous of the successful black President! Go drink some Kool-Aid!

April 23, 2012 at 10:41 am |

The REAL Truth.. (not the imposter)

Keep praying sweetheart. It's not working. LOL That fact that you have to pray about it and consider the POTUS a tyrant tells me all I need to know about your mindset and intelligence level. Educate yourself pls. You have been drinking too much cool-aid.
FACT: Until the SCOTUS rules in June there is NOTHING unconstitutional about ACA. It's funny how you think that it is, given the MOST of it is based on MA's Romneycare plan. Must be because it came from the Obama adminstration and it is there instantly WRONG, even if most of it came from the GOP.
FACT: ACA will do away with Medicare by decreasing funding for it over time (a BIG complaint that the GOP has) – because the insurance companies will now be required to cover pre-existing conditions and the over-65 (which is what Medicare now covers).

April 23, 2012 at 10:42 am |

Alan J

Hey Julia go have some coffee you are dillusional at best! What a racist rant you're making. Thank God for my President!

April 23, 2012 at 10:52 am |

Vernon

And your solution is to elect some guy who is a member of a religious cult? What does your bible say about crazy religious people? Wasn't Jesus opposed to these kinds of religious fanatics? And you people who are always critical of Obama on Israel never say anything about Ron Paul. How does Ron Paul feel about our great ally Israel? Why is Ron Paul never called anti-semitic? Obama says the US relationship to Israel is sacrosanct. Ron Paul says we should stop giving Israel any aid at all and that Israel should be left to fend for themselves.

April 23, 2012 at 10:54 am |

FLIndpendent

You're clueless and obviously a Faux News junkie. Please inform us what Obama has done that's so terrible. Everything he is trying to accomplish is for the majority of Americans. His obstructionists are the ones you should be worried about.

April 23, 2012 at 10:56 am |

Alan J

You said you have prayed many times, obviously the Lord hit ignore when you called! He doest entertain racist prayers or lying prayers. I'm just saying!

April 23, 2012 at 10:57 am |

acutemind

Julia Claibourne is a prime example of someone who never reads her Bible and just parrots the lies and perversions she hears spouted by corrupt or perverted preachers and who herself is perverted but too ignorant to know it.
I'm a Christian who has read the Bible cover to cover at least 7 times and can openly proclaim that there's NOTHING in the Bible that requires us to "stand with Israel" – NOTHING!! That's a man made proclamation. There is however a direct Command in the Bible that requires us to "love all others as we love ourselves" i.e. hold all to account including ourselves under the same set of rules and standards.

If the so called Christian Conservative Right were truly Christian they wouldn't be clamoring for war with Iran due to Iran being resolute in merely exercising its rights under the NPT – the same rights hundreds of other countries enjoy and which was agreed to by all signatories. Add to that the fact that we've gone to war with other countries for much less than what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians (See Kosovo war), and yet you've put our Christian humanity in stasis when it comes to letting Israel get away with atrocities. When Israel drops white phosphorus on civilians and bulldozes Palestinian home whilst the Palestinians are under the barrel of a tank you poser Christians rub your hands together and in a sinister manner similar to Darth Sidious say "good...goood".

You people are NO Christians, you are just posers who like the sound of hearing themselves claim to be Christians. You think it gives you some moral leg up. You think that by openly violating a direct commandment from Christ they can escape reprimand by supplanting said violation with some imagined up back door access to a blessing by "standing with Israel" – something NEVER commanded, required, NOR found anywhere in the Bible – and which causes contradiction in how Christians are expected to behave. "stand with Israel" It's just a made up piece of scripture. No wonder why athiests and agnostics think Christians are full of chit. It's because you posers are.

You're not saved Ms. Claibourne, you're in denial and just think you are.

Julia, first the constitution has nothing to do with ur white god. Absolutely nothing. Second, "obamacare" says we all pay for everyone healthcare rite? What would ur great white god say about that? Do u think he would hate it or love it? Didnt he say to his apostles to give up everything they have and follow Him? Next, u say the Israel is UR #1ally, well hate to tell u this cuz i know u already know but the jewish religion doesnt believe in ur jesus! They helped kill him in ur goid book. Am i wrong? They believe that a messiah is coming. But hasnt come yet?
Last question, since u r saved and we r going to hell, what do u care? R u saying these things so we convert? Cuz that is ur only job in life as a christian right?

April 23, 2012 at 5:35 pm |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

American born Awalaki is also a victim of Obama's effective war on terrorism! These are stuff GWB couldn't get done!

ANOTHER LIB LIER!!! WETBAKS INVADED AMERICA AND DEMS LET THEM DO IT TO STEAL VOTES!! NO MORE THIS TIME!!

VOTE REPUBLICAN!!!!

April 23, 2012 at 1:12 pm |

The REAL Truth.. (not the imposter)

Illegal aliens are NOT bleeding us dry.. That's yet another misconception perpetrated by those who want to attack Obama's foreign policy. Yes, they have a marginal impact on healthcare costs (0.012%), but are you willing to go pick tomatoes, oranges and harvest grain??? I didn't think so.

So true! This is 1955 all over again! All it took was for a Black, intelligent, smart thoughtful and concise Man be Elected POTUS to bring the Old Jim Crow racism of the 50's out form under the rugs where it had been swept! Sad, Grow up people!

April 23, 2012 at 11:00 am |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

No, the terrorists, communists and dictators are the definitiion of the republican party! They like to gun down our congresswomen while they're listening to the concerns of their constituents! They like to shoot little 10 year old American girls waving the American flag! They like to call for the assassination of our President and his kids! They like to blow up oil rigs in the Gulf to create more roadblock for our President! They like to display bumper stickers that call for the assassination of our President! They like to take shots at the White House! They like to call for the destruction of our Union because they're envy and jealous of the successful black President! No, I'm afraid the terrorists, communists and dictators are in the republican party and they're all backing Mitt Romney!

Remember when the Dixie Chicks criticized President Bush's stance toward the world and the war? What were they called? Oh, yeah–traitors. They were boycotted. Now the (R) presidential hopeful does it, and his people cheer him on. What a bunch of hypocrites.

Either this guy is for real and he really really likes his gun (I wonder what he really does with) joke or he is just playing. If it's the latter, than I am truly concerned that he might point the gun the wrong way given that he cannot write a cohesive sentence. Let's donate to this poor poor person and send him to school (under surveillance since he might bring he beloved gun).

Without the President (let's respect the office a bit more, shall we...), that order to execute that mission would have not gone through. Navy SEALS don't act on their own. I am sure if it been anyone else but the current President you would also speak differently. Please be honest.

April 23, 2012 at 10:45 am |

DM

Just remember that this took place because of the intelligence operations Bush put in place.

Of course DM, that would mean that credit should be given to the CIA/FBI and not President Bush.

April 23, 2012 at 10:30 am |

John

Bush intelligence is an oxymoron. Look it up if the word is too big for you.

April 23, 2012 at 11:32 am |

Hugh Jass

It sure was hard tricking you guys into nominating Mitt Romney. When you chased away Huntsman, shouting "Get him, he's Mormon!" we knew we had you on the ropes. Now give him Palin as VP, or Marco "Mafioso" Rubio.

Huntsman is Mormon too..... but he has a brain, knows foreign policy, and is not the arrogant fool Romney is. Romney is a liar, relying on his lies just to have something to say because he knows nothing about any issue, any problem the People are facing nor does he care. He represents the rich and the corporations in his world of clueless stupidity. He has no solutions, no policies (said he will reveal them once he is President – yeah right – we don't elect morons and liars – we learned that lesson with Bush), and couldn't find China on a map. Go back to one of your 5 houses Romney and let a real leader keep restoring the nation your Party destroyed.

You mean the Michelle Bachmann who thought Africa was a country rather than a continent...the one who thought Paul Revere warned the British rather than the Patriots fighting them, the one who did not know where Libya was and thought it was in the Mideast. Oh please....Bachmann is as stupid as they come and should not be allowed in Congress without taking an IQ test.
President Obama has acted brilliantly in all foreign policy issues and has earned back the respect America had before Bush. He has transformed foreign policy to conform with our new global community, involving our Allies, the Arab League, and the UN in handling rogue nations. This saves us money and the lives of our soldiers. Nor a war monger stuck in the past like Republicans.

Then why is he referred to as President of the United States of America and commander-in-chief? And why is he leader of America and the free world? Easy on the Kool-Aid now! You're liable to poisin yourself!

Okay, so Romney wants to go toe to toe with Obama on foreign policy credentials and issues. Fine. Go Romney. I'd choose Obama the President who was in charge on the day we caught and killed OBL any day over a novice like you who thinks Russia is our greatest foe (what do you think this is 1964?). Oh and newsflash Mittens, Russia hasn't been an issue in 20+ years. Get with the program and get with the times.

Really? Is that why Bush said he didn't care about Osama and that finding him was not a priority?

April 23, 2012 at 10:13 am |

The REAL Truth.. (not the imposter)

Been to a big city lately bubba? It's POLICIES, and that IS (not ARE) what got OBL. Right... that's why he spent 8 yrs (sort of) chasing him, yet Obama took care of it in TWO !!

April 23, 2012 at 10:15 am |

Blah blah the wheel's off your trailer

Dickie, your comment is impotent! You should try Viagra!

April 23, 2012 at 10:17 am |

Dickie

BUSH WAS ONLY JOKING WHEN HE SAY THAT!!! EVERYONE NOES THAT AND ONLY LIBERLS MAIN STREM MEDIS LIEING!!

April 23, 2012 at 10:41 am |

Hugh Jass

I heard Seal Team Six burst in and beat him to death with poacies, then shoved a poacie up his fundament. What are you talking about anyway, jabberhead?

April 23, 2012 at 10:43 am |

mmad5camp

Dickie!!! Please go back to school and learn how to spell, at least use spell check before you post!!!!

April 23, 2012 at 10:49 am |

JustMe

Dickie, something tells me you missed the days in elementary school where students were taught how to spell correctly. Do we need to send you back?

April 23, 2012 at 12:13 pm |

timothy

Mitt Romney took on Richard Grenell as foreign policy spokesman. He is a neo-con who assisted John Bolton at the U.N. Are you kidding me?? 8 years of foreign policy, national security, and war execution blunders during Bush-Cheney set us back 20 years in the War on Terrorism. Iraq was the worst strategic decision in U.S. history...

@DICKIE – IT'S OBVIOUS FROM YOUR POSTS THAT YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHICH YOU SPEAK. RECENTLY GOT INTERNET ACCESS ?

April 23, 2012 at 10:45 am |

sayer

The hate is strong in this one.

April 23, 2012 at 10:56 am |

Realist 007

Bush got Saddam Hussein, I'll give him that. The only difference is Saddam never attacked the US.

April 23, 2012 at 11:00 am |

Dickie

SADDAM HAD MASS DESTRCION WEAPONS!!! BUSH SAVED AMERICA FROM THEM!! ARE YOU DUMB??

VOTE REPUBLICAN!!

April 23, 2012 at 11:05 am |

BeverlyNC

Defintely a Republican. Can't spell. Doesn't know history. Has no clue torture is an international war crime and Bush and Cheney are war criminals who would be prosecuted if President Obama called for them to be handed over to the Hague for trial. The CIA was and still is against torture saying it never works, gives you false info, and creates hate besided being illegal. Republicans are lying yet again (what a shock) to try to not look like the idiots they were with the fraudulent Iraq War. Bush abandoned looking for Osama after 3 months because of his incompetence. It took a real leader to catch Osama and President Obama based it on current CIA intelligence and teams – not on useless Bush nothingness from war crimes of torture. How sad how ignorant Republicans are in believing all the lies you are told that hurt you and even take away what benefits you and let Republicans give all you have to the rich and corporations and laugh at your blind hate they created in you.

April 23, 2012 at 11:40 am |

experiencehe

yep, w/out the interrogation practices of the bush admin. osama is still walking folks...like it or not!
OBAMANOS!!!

April 23, 2012 at 12:51 pm |

NoKidding

Typical redneck republican, shouts, and can't spell. You'd make a good companion to GW Bush who can't read or speak.

As other savvy posters have already commented, Romney's only experience with foreign policy has to do with hiding his money offshore in the Caymens. What a joke this guy is and how foolish any of you are to cast a vote in his direction. Obama is not perfect, no one is, but he's a far cry better than what we've had and what we could potentially get in Romney. We'd be looking at more wars and who's going to pay for them besides our already stretched military? Will he send his sons this time?

Romenys foreign policy is to start some more wars and bankrupt america...every power has lost its position by fighting wars, they are the most expensive action a country can take...and romeny not only wants to return to bushes financial policies that allowed wallstreet to implode then bail them out but foreign policy that started two wars and cost america trillions while romney wants to put the cost of all that on the poorest americans and the middle class while promising to not put one cent of taxes on the rich who have had the best thirty years in history....he has no policy, he is just another wallstreet, oil, 1% puppet as much as bush was...and we all know who caused 2008 BUSH and Romeny wants to do exactly the same again...then take off to his mormon church that nobody can follow him into....do not trust this scumbag, he doesnt give a hoot about you....tells a group of people on foodstamps that 'He is unemployed too', employed illegal immigrants, hid his politicial past by destroying files and hidden donations and his taxes until it was going to end his run....AND HAD MONEY IN A FAMOUS TAX HAVEN UNTIL THE YEAR THE IRS WENT LOOKING AND THEN MOVED IT OUT OF THERE....IS HE A TAX DODGER?...OH YES...BUT DID HE DO IT ILLEGALLY AS WELL AS IMMORALLY????

Jean,
You made my day. You are a truly dignified lady. You have given a lesson on how to disagree without disrespecting or being destructive. I hope politicians would take a lesson from you. In days filled with violence, negative messaging, hate and bullying. you give us a refreshing story and food for thought and reflection.

So many comments or attacks against Mr. Romney while Obama is destroying America as we know it. Obama has never had experience before his Congressional seat and the presidency was bought by Mafia and big money and unions. Now Obama states that now that he knows what the job entails he must have another term to prove it. Granted all of Congress has allowed him to rob this nation of much. Will we soon be another third world country yelling out Heil, Obama. His job performance says to me that he must have excelled in his studies on Communism. It is sad also that he attacks our Constitution day after day. The people who bought/voted him in are racist. Obama is mulatto. The people said that they wanted the first Black president. They wanted a man of color with lack of experience? Why not vote in Mr. Cain who is also a man of color but possess more experience. I am voicing my comments as well as you. Let us continue in our freedom of speech while we can. God is still in control. It is time for all people to have an opinion. I am also tired of "you are racist" when you speak up against the president. Obama had no problem in speaking up against the White President Bush.

No worries Mike D, he sounds like a quite typical Republican voter. It is actually useful to hear people like this every once in a while, in order to remain absolutely convinced that they are devoid of any ideas and logic, and that we cannot possibly leave the country in their hands.

April 23, 2012 at 9:53 am |

dantealexander

God is not in control this is not a christian nation and never has been

IF, IF, America WAS truly a Nation in the image of Jesus Christ's Kingdom of Heaven Here on Earth Luke 17,20, it would bear SOME resemblance to what Jesus had in mind: Public Education, Unemployment Insurance, Universal Health Care, Social Security/Medicare, Salt 1,Progressive Income Tax. Many of the things that the "Christian" Right rails against.

April 23, 2012 at 9:54 am |

alex chapman

You're right. We need to put that Foreign Policy Guru in charge of ALL U.S. Foreign Policy; I'm talking about Dick Cheney. He of the 8 Draft Deferments Fame during the Vietnam War; though he strongly supported the War as part of the fight against Communism. He can bring along his "Love Child" Liz, the one whose conception gave him one of his deferments.

What you have just typed is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent message were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone on this message board is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

That's what you conservative confederate rightwing trailer trash are good at! Blaming Obama for all the sh-it he inherited! So in what way is Obama destroying America? The President inherited two deadly and costly wars, a severely inflated national deficit and the worst economic crisis in our nation's history, yet he's being attack relentlessly and blamed for trying to stabilize our economy, restore our image abroad and put Americans first! That is what you call destroying America? There's a cross burning ceremony in the deep south, why don't you go join your redneck friends?

That is what you rightwing trailer trash are good at! Blaming Obama for all the garbage he inherited! So the President inherits two deadly and costly wars, a severely inflated national deficit, and the worst economic crisis in our nation's history and yet you say the President is destroying America? In what way is the President destroying America? Is stabiling our economy, restoring our image abroad and putting Americans first what you describe as destroying America? Idiot!

Every word in your posts sound like quotes from Sean Hannity rhetoric; lots of irrational accusations not supported by any facts at all. That's what leads to the conclusion that bigotry is at the core of your positions. Nothing else could be the reason because the things you site aren't even true. If you'd turn off the right wing talks shows, you could learn that for yourself instead of letting those one-sided conservative pundits think for you.

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.